In the LaMusga case decided by the California Supreme Court in 2004, Gary LaMusga’s son’s kindergarten teacher testified about the tactics LaMusga’s ex-wife, Susan Navarro, used to try to turn his children against him. The kindergarten teacher explained that Navarro asked her to keep track of the time Gary spent volunteering in his little son’s kindergarten classroom so it could be deducted from his visitation time with his son.

According to the teacher, the LaMusga boy told her “my dad lies in court…if you tell the judge…he could talk to you” and said that his mom had told him this. The teacher testified:

“I finally sat down with him and told him that it was OK for him to love his daddy. I basically gave him permission to love his father. And he seemed brightened by that…”

The teacher continued:

“The next day that Gary had seen the kids he came to me the following morning and said,’ what did you say to him?…He was so happy. He just greeted me with open arms…we had one of the best evenings that we have had in a long time.’ And I just shared with Gary at that point that I had given his son permission to love his father….I’m not sure that he was aware that he could do that.”

Children should never be used as pawns and the parents who do so should be punished.

I teach middle school so I know this age of kid extremely well. Baldwin is doing great damage to her both in his insults to her and her mother. In a divorce you NEVER bash your ex while talking to your kid, NEVER. He’s a lousy parent and his daughter will unfortunately reap what he has sown. A girl’s relationship with her father at this critical age, in many ways, sets her course on how she’ll deal with men in her life. This isn’t about lib vs. conservative, this is about good parenting vs. rotten parenting.

Mojave Mark on April 21, 2007 at 2:00 PM

Again, I am not defending his actions. He was wrong to blow up at his daughter and could use anger management. That being said, you are wrong to conclude he is a bad father from this one incident. Listen to what Mellen has gone through and I hope you realize that PAS is a real problem and Ireland needs help if this is what her mother is doing to her.

Also, there is no doubt in my mind that Basinger released this clip. Don’t you think it is rotten to release an audio clip of a father calling a daughter a litttle pig in order to embarrass the father? The court had already heard the tape and suspended his custody rights. What was there to gain? This is why Bsinger’s role in Ireland’s behavior must be looked into.

Segal suggests that Basinger is guilty of a different kind of abuse if it comes out that she intended for this tape to become public. “Then what she did is almost as bad as or perhaps worse for the child’s welfare: Would you want the world to know that your daughter was called a “pig” by her father? That’s not doing your child a service to let the world know that.”

«PREVIOUS 1. 2. 3.

Thank you for proving my point.

Glynn on April 21, 2007 at 6:47 AM

You argue like a liberal. What are you trying to say?

Baldwin is a typical abuser. It’s Psych 101….he goes through every single motion…he begins to steam up, he explodes, and then the “in love again” motion (”I’m sorry…no one knows the pressure I’m under”). If that child had physically been with him at the time of his explosion, no telling how truly bad this would have been.

lynnv on April 21, 2007 at 8:19 AM

I have never said Baldwin is in the right here. What I have been trying to get through is that the daughter might be a victim of PAS and that this one snapshot of their relationship should not be taken as indicative of their entire relationship. Clearly, he needs anger management because if Ireland is being brainwashed by her mother it is not her fault.

Since we’re going to assume that Alec Baldwin’s daughter is being brainwashed by her mother or assume that the daughter purposely didn’t take his call (along with other assumptions that the call was made on time, the right day) etc. then why couldn’t we assume that he doesn’t talk to her this way most of the time or that she didn’t answer the phone because of regular verbal abuse from him.

We don’t have to assume anything. A psychologist can talk to Ireland and find out if her mother is trying to poison her mind towards her father and vice versa. I say if Basinger is guilty of this she should lose custody. In either case Baldwin needs anger management.

The real issue is whether Baldwin should lose custody. Based on this one phone call it is hard to say. If there is a pattern of abuse then obviously he should. If there has been an overriding assumption in this thread it is that Baldwin is a bad father. There is not enough evidence in pne phone call to make that determination. You are letting your prejudice against Baldwin determine your reactions.

Uh…the way he spoke to her is abuse.

Catseye on April 20, 2007 at 10:53 PM
I guess my parents should be serving a life sentence for what they said to me.

Bill C on April 20, 2007 at 10:57 PM

Maybe, or maybe the people who stood by and watched should be.

Abusers count on this type of behavior. I workoed for the Los Angeles Coroner’s years ago. I saw the end result of situations that started out as verbal abuse. No one thought it was any of their business, including the spouses in the situation, who were often abused themselves.

Glynn on April 20, 2007 at 8:35 PM
Oh Jebus, a man yells and all of the sudden he is on the fast track to murder. Please, you are reading way too much into this. His daughter pissed him off and he lost his sh$t. He was wrong but that doesn’t mean he is abusing her.

Bill C on April 20, 2007 at 10:03 PM

Thank you for proving my point.

He was wrong but that doesn’t mean he is abusing her.
Bill C on April 20, 2007 at 10:03 PM
Uh…the way he spoke to her is abuse.

I workoed for the Los Angeles Coroner’s years ago.
Glynn on April 20, 2007 at 8:35 PM
Glynn,Maybe we should swap notes…5 years NM OMI.

Catseye on April 20, 2007 at 10:53 PM

Some of that stuff is pretty hard to get out of your head.

Since we’re going to assume that Alec Baldwin’s daughter is being brainwashed by her mother or assume that the daughter purposely didn’t take his call (along with other assumptions that the call was made on time, the right day) etc. then why couldn’t we assume that he doesn’t talk to her this way most of the time or that she didn’t answer the phone because of regular verbal abuse from him.

All that I do know is that as a parent I would never pile drive my daughter’s self esteem into the dirt the way Alec Baldwin did on that one phone message that I heard. I don’t have to assume anything about any of them to know that what I heard was abusive and there is no excuse for that type of behavior towards a pre teen daughter or son. I would say the same about anyone, regardless of politics, that did the same thing.

Buzzy on April 21, 2007 at 1:48 AM

I totally agree, Buzzy.

All that I do know is that as a parent I would never pile drive my daughter’s self esteem into the dirt the way Alec Baldwin did on that one phone message that I heard. I don’t have to assume anything about any of them to know that what I heard was abusive and there is no excuse for that type of behavior towards a pre teen daughter or son. I would say the same about anyone, regardless of politics, that did the same thing.

Uh…the way he spoke to her is abuse.

Catseye on April 20, 2007 at 10:53 PM

I guess my parents should be serving a life sentence for what they said to me.

He was wrong but that doesn’t mean he is abusing her.
Bill C on April 20, 2007 at 10:03 PM

Uh…the way he spoke to her is abuse.

I workoed for the Los Angeles Coroner’s years ago.
Glynn on April 20, 2007 at 8:35 PM

Glynn,Maybe we should swap notes…5 years NM OMI.

He is an idiot. However, his personal life is his business. Lets be good conservatives and let him deal with HIS family issues.

msipes on April 20, 2007 at 1:11 PM

It’s like you’re speaking some foreign language.

Abusers count on this type of behavior. I workoed for the Los Angeles Coroner’s years ago. I saw the end result of situations that started out as verbal abuse. No one thought it was any of their business, including the spouses in the situation, who were often abused themselves.

Glynn on April 20, 2007 at 8:35 PM

Oh Jebus, a man yells and all of the sudden he is on the fast track to murder. Please, you are reading way too much into this. His daughter pissed him off and he lost his sh$t. He was wrong but that doesn’t mean he is abusing her.

He is an idiot. However, his personal life is his business. Lets be good conservatives and let him deal with HIS family issues.

msipes on April 20, 2007 at 1:11 PM

Abusers count on this type of behavior. I workoed for the Los Angeles Coroner’s years ago. I saw the end result of situations that started out as verbal abuse. No one thought it was any of their business, including the spouses in the situation, who were often abused themselves.

Baldwin’s interest is purely and ONLY about himself. How anyone can listen to that audio and think he’s even giving a thought to trying to be a proper parent is beyond me. It’s a classically narcissistic rant of the highest order.

Actors and actresses are unusually narcissistic and possess few life skills. They reported that on this blog.

I’m just trying to err on the side of supporting a divorced father who actually gives his child the time of day.

unamused on April 20, 2007 at 2:03 PM

I was going to leave it all alone, because you are trying to do the right thing, until this one.

Baldwin’s interest is purely and ONLY about himself. How anyone can listen to that audio and think he’s even giving a thought to trying to be a proper parent is beyond me. It’s a classically narcissistic rant of the highest order.

“I took time out, I was humiliated…” He said I or me nearly 20 times in that message, because she missed his call. If you have a shred of sense you find out why before being angry. You never know what someone on the other side of the country is doing.

When I was a sailor at sea, few and far between were the chances to call home. It hurt bad anytime I got an answering machine, knowing it might have been my only chance at a phone call for weeks. Does that give me any right to berate my wife and kids? This self-absorbed ego with lungs verbally abused a child in the most demeaning terms he could conjure. Defend that?

Never!

What Bill C and Unamused seem to be assuming is that people here are mocking/scorning Alec because they don’t understand what he’s going through. Far from it: people just don’t care!

I know it’s confusing, but bear with me.

I don’t care what his little girl did short of physically attacking him: his behaviour is repellant. It is especially horrid considering that he has a history of alcohol abuse and violence. You don’t call your daughter a wretched little pig and threaten to “straighten her ass out real good” when you find her. There is nothing that you can say to make me feel compassion for his “plight”.

You know, consider this. Let’s assume everything you’re suggesting is true and that Kim Bassinger really is demonizing him to alienate him from his daughter. If Alec Baldwin is this kind of father, maybe he deserves it. I know I wouldn’t let my kid hang around with this toon.

Lehosh on April 20, 2007 at 2:52 PM

It also seems that a few here are assuming things about Kim that no one really knows. But I don’t care about that. I don’t care about Kim and I don’t care about Alec. I find it absolutely astounding that anyone would make excuses for ANY